Along Come Norwich Flashback – Charlton Athletic 0 – 1 Norwich City (2010 – A)

Story of the match

This result ended one of the most turbulent periods in Norwich’s history. After a disastrous 2008/09 Championship season, Norwich City were relegated to play in the third tier of English football for the first time in 50 years after a 4-2 defeat at the Valley against an already relegated Charlton Athletic.

While Bryan Gunn had been installed as manager following the sacking of Glenn Roeder towards the the back end of that season, Norwich lost 7-1 at home to Colchester United on the first day of their new campaign in League One and subsequently poached their manager, Paul Lambert. With the help of Grant Holt and Wes Hoolahan, City then made mincemeat of the division and were promoted at the exact location of their relegation the previous year. Michael Nelson heading home from a Simon Lappin corner, and second place Leeds losing to Gillingham, ensured a quick return to the Championship.

You may have forgotten that

While Michael Nelson’s goal is the moment that will forever be remembered, and shown on those short video clips, Fraser Forster pulled off an exceptional number of quality saves to deny Charlton – effectively winning Norwich the game by himself.

What happened next?

Norwich won the League One title the following week with a 2-0 win against Gillingham. They finished nine points ahead of Leeds (with Leeds holding a 15 point lead at the top at one point, lol), and scored a club record 89 goals.

Long term significance

The idea of a “full reset” as a result of a disaster relegation is oft mooted in football, but quite rarely pays off  (see: Ipswich Town 2018-present). Norwich, however, with a complete clearout from top to bottom, change in mentality and fresh optimism from the League One campaign, performed what Paul Lambert classed as a miracle by winning promotion to the Premier League the following year. City genuinely became something of a mid-table side over the next couple of seasons, before an attempt to fly too close to the sun caused all sorts of things to come crashing down again.